President Cyril Ramaphosa said that the late Environmental Affairs Minister Edna Molewa was a woman of courage who was widely respected on the world stage due to her massive contribution to the global fight against climate change and the environment.
President Ramaphosa delivered the eulogy on Saturday at the Official Funeral for the 61-year-old Minister who died last month of Legionnaire's disease.
"Our robust response to the threat of climate change had its genesis at the COP17 summit in Durban in 2011. As leader of the South African negotiating delegation, minister Molewa threw herself into an intense period of international diplomacy," he said
The COP17 conference had laid the groundwork for the historic climate change Paris Agreement in 2015, which Molewa worked at tirelessly to ensure it was concluded and ratified.
"South Africa and the international community has lost a true champion of the cause of environmental justice and sustainability as a foundation for equitable socio-economic development. Dr Molewa provided leadership on the whole spectrum of issues in the environmental sector; from the green economy to biodiversity conservation, to wildlife management and protection," said Ramaphosa.
"It pained her that the ocean's health was being threatened by degradation, over-fishing, oil and plastic pollution. As part of the global effort to strike a balance between economic development and ocean health she was at the time of her passing preparing to launch a source to sea initiative, a national and international movement to address the sources of marine and river pollution at source, to restore our water systems to good health, and to eradicate pollution," he said.
Molewa had been passionate about enhancing South Africa's role in oceans research, especially in Antarctica and the Southern Ocean Islands.
Molewa's official state funeral was held at the Tshwane Events Centre, west of Pretoria.
The sombre event was attended by, among others, foreign dignitaries, cabinet ministers, and former South African presidents Thabo Mbeki, Jacob Zuma, and Kgalema Motlanthe.
- African News Agency (ANA)
